Hillary Clinton beats Obama, Biden in popularity vote

A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday shows former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's approval rating is high. Her popularity rating outstrips all potential presidential opponents both in the primaries and general elections.

According to the poll conducted from January 30 to February 4, based on 1,772 registered voters, 61 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 34 percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of her. She easily beat President Obama whose favorability rating was 51 percent. Vice President Joe Biden had a favorability rating of 46 percent.

According to the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Peter A. Brown: "Hillary Clinton ends her term as Secretary of State and the bruising inquiry into the Benghazi murders as easily the most popular actor on the American political stage today."

Policymic reports that Clinton put up a website before she resigned as Secretary of State. The website shows that she has started putting together an organizational structure for her a presidential campaign. According to Policymic, the website is compiling a list of email addresses which could be used to mass email supporters and mobilize grassroots efforts. Observers note also that Clinton's recent send-off interview which featured President Obama was a presidential endorsement for Clinton in anticipation of a possible 2016 bid.

The Quinnipiac poll showed that Obama’s job approval rating dipped to 46 percent, with 45 percent of voters disapproving of his job performance, compared to 53 percent approval and 40 percent disapproval in a December poll taken shortly after his victory over Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

The Quinnipiac poll also showed that Obama has a favorability rating of 51 percent, with 46 percent holding an unfavorable view of him. Brown said: "After an initial burst of reelection enthusiasm for President Barack Obama, we may be seeing a return to the age of the polarized electorate."

President Joe Biden, another potential Democratic presidential contender for 2016, has a favorability rating of 46 percent with 41 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) favorability rating was 34 percent with 36 percent of voters having an unfavorable opinion of him. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had the highest unfavorability rating of politicians in the survey. He scored 20 percent on the favorability scale and 42 percent on the unfavorability scale.

However, a significant proportion of respondents in the poll said they do not know enough about two potential GOP presidential candidates, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to make informed decisions or judgments about them. Rubio's favorability rating was 27 percent with 15 percent holding an unfavorable view. A significant 57 percent said they do not know enough about him. Bush's favorability rating was 25 percent, with a 29 percent unfavorability rating. Forty-five percent of voters said they don't know enough to say.

The poll showed that Republicans are viewed more negatively than Democrats in Congress. Nineteen percent of survey respondents viewed Republicans in Congress positively, compared to 72 percent who had a negative opinion of them. In contrast, 33 percent viewed Democrats favorably compared to 59 percent who viewed them negatively.